A new way to promote mobile apps…?

We’ve blogged quite a bit in the past about how to market an app; it’s no easy task and it only gets harder as the market grows.

One common problem with mobile apps, particularly those that aren’t free, is that there’s no ‘try before you buy’ option and no return or refund option either. It leads to very wary consumers, who without full comprehension of what the app entails and a wide range of positive reviews will be reluctant to download it.

For games this is fairly simple to overcome through in-app purchases; so-called ‘freemium’ games allow users to play up to a certain point for free, before they need to make purchases to move forward. Similarly ‘lite’ options of apps are a means of trying before you buy, but app developers must strike a careful balance between proving the full app is essential and not giving away so much that it’s not actually necessary to download the full version.

Both of these methods have flaws as users can continue to use the app without upgrading, leaving developers out of pocket or reliant on adverting. However, a new tool from App.io may change all this…

According to TechCrunch the technology firm has developed a tool whereby developers can “create ad units that are basically functional copies of their mobile app or game that consumers can play for a set amount of time, before having to download the native application in order to continue.”

The testing stages of the tool have revealed some pretty powerful results too. After trials involving over 200,000 impressions of the interactive ads, conversion rates are high – some three to five times more than traditional image or video adverts.

The tool is still in the early stages and charging is yet to be decided, App.io’s Head of Business Development David Truong explains:

“The cost is very similar to video ads – cost per completed demo, we’re essentially creating the industry standard, so are still experimenting with ad unit costs. We’ve had a lot of interest to charge CPI, but based on the high quality of the users (lifetime value).”

Regardless of the charge model used, this could prove to be a vital new tool for mobile app marketers.